Art Fair Philippines 2026, Feb. 6-8, 2026, at the Circuit Corporate Center, The Circuit Makati
The name Romeo Tabuena may not ring a bell among average Filipino art patrons, but in Mexico, specifically the artistic and cultural city of San Miguel de Allende, he was a revered master. He lived there, from the time he arrived to study at its Instituto Allende in 1955 till his passing at age 94 in 2015.
According to Angelina Florio, a Filipina based in Mexico and an acquaintance of Tabuena and his Norwegian wife Nina, collectors who attended the American Art Fair, a major social event for American and international communities, formed a line on the street to be among the first to buy the work of this shy, well-mannered, quiet man.
At Art Fair Philippines 2026, Feb. 6-8, 2026, at the Circuit Corporate Center, The Circuit Makati, a new generation of art lovers will get to know Tabuena through an 18-piece collection of oils and acrylics from Leon Gallery.
Curated by writer, artist, and designer Tats Manahan, the exhibit is set up chronologically from 1949 to 1989 in an ambiance that captures San Miguel de Allende through sepia-tone stickers of street scenes and landmarks. The paintings hang along a wall on a corridor replicating a sidewalk.
Manahan, one of three speakers of the ArtFairPH/Talks Modes of the Figurative and the Abstract, will give an overview of Tabuena on February 6, 3 pm to 4:30 pm at the 11/F of Circuit Corporate Center.
Abroad, Tabuena garnered art honors from prestigious award-giving bodies and represented the Philippines in international art fairs like the eighth Sâo Paulo Art Biennal in 1965. He is included in the Who’s Who in American Art, International Who’s Who of Intellectuals, History of International Art in Italy, the International Book of Honor of America’s Biographic Institute, and 5000 Personalities of the World in Cambridge, England, among others.
‘Two Women, A Bouquet, and Baby, ‘signed and dated 1972 (upper left), oil on canvas, 18 1/2″ x 21″ (47 cm x 53 cm
‘Woman with Parasol,’ signed and dated 1976 (upper left), oil on board, 30” x 21” (76 cm x 53 cm)
Untitled, signed and dated 1968 (upper left), oil on board, 14″ x 10″ (36 cm x 25 cm)
Untitled, signed and dated 1956 (lower left), oil on board, 17 1/2″ x 7″ (44 cm x 18 cm)
‘Laundry Women,’ signed and dated 1971 (upper left), oil on board, 13” x 17” (33 cm x 43 cm)
Untitled (Barrio Scene), signed and dated 1960 (lower right), oil on board, 18” x 23 1/2” (46 cm x 60 cm)
The making of a modernist
Born in Iloilo in 1921, Tabuena graduated from the Mapua Institute of Technology with a degree in architecture, and from the University of the Philippines, major in Painting. As early as 1949, he held exhibits at Philippine Art Gallery, one of the galleries established post-war, that showcased modernist artists who introduced new ways of expanding art techniques through emerging innovations. In post-war Manila, all art undertakings resumed with the reconstruction of the badly damaged Legislative Building, soon to become the National Museum of Fine Arts.
Tabuena’s countless exhibits of watercolors ignited his yearning to know more about his chosen field. In 1952, he began his art journey, leaving the Philippines to learn more with the Arts Student League of New York, then on to the Academie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris by 1954. In 1955, he made the move to San Miguel de Allende, then an up-and-coming artist community in Mexico.
Untitled (11 heads), signed and dated 1956 (lower left), oil on board, 24” x 42” (61 cm x 105 cm)
‘Children Playing,’ signed and dated 1951 (lower right), oil on board, 18″ x 24″ (46 cm x 61 cm)
‘Vendor,’ signed and dated 1970 (upper right), oil on canvas, 36” x 28” (91 cm x 71 cm)
Still Life, signed and dated 1989 (upper left), oil on canvas, 27” x 30” (69 cm x 76 cm)
Mexico meets Filipino
Most of Tabuena’s works were acrylics, oils, and watercolors, bearing a hybrid of Mexican and Filipino themes, some using Chinese techniques and formats. Perhaps his landscapes are the most valued, as they were, more often than not, most prominent and always in his memory. His palette that leaned towards yellows, ochres and browns lent warmth to his paintings, a softness that carried over to his paintings of bolder colors and of photorealist rendition.
Amid the heightened influences evident in his works, what gave his paintings the Filipino stamp were his themes. Never forgetting his country of birth, he paid tribute to his roots through various figures and images. The carabao, the Filipino beast of burden, represented rural life and agriculture. He depicted Christianity through Christ the Shepherd and as metaphor for human leaders of faith and selfless love. The Filipino ”bayanihan” was symbolized by the nipa hut, a simple but sturdy native architecture, resilient to the forces of nature, symbolic of ancestral heritage.
Ultimately, Tabuena held his own, embracing the historical facets and influences of his colonized country as well as his adoptive country, transplanting them into his own artistic interpretation, defining the uniqueness of his work and reflecting his gentleness of character.
‘The Madonna with Yellow Veil,’ signed and dated 1955 (lower right), oil on wood, 30” x 18” (76 cm x 46 cm)
‘Cena Campesina (The Countrywoman’s Repast),’ signed and dated 1969 (lower left), acrylic on canvas, 31 1/2″ x 25 1/2″ (80 cm x 65 cm)
Untitled, signed and dated 1964 (upper left), oil on board, 25 1/2″ x 37 1/2″ (65 cm x 95 cm)
Still Life (Mexico), signed and dated 1958 (upper left), oil on board, 32” x 48” (81 cm x 122 cm)
Untitled, signed and dated 1981 (upper right), oil on canvas, 36″ x 43 1/4″ (91 cm 110 cm)
Untitled, signed and dated 1976 (upper left), oil on masonite board, 25″ x 38 1/2″ (64 cm x 98 cm)
‘Lavanderas,’ signed (lower right), ca. 1949 – 1950, oil on wood, 19 1/2″” x 24″” (50 cm x 61 cm)”
